I’ve been holding off on writing this article because I feel like I’ve written about the Galactic Starcruiser ad nauseum. A quick check of my recent writings will show that it’s mostly been Boba Fett and Star Wars hotel stuff… but more stuff just keeps coming out whether I like it or not.
Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Hotel: How the Train Wreck Happened
You get the idea?
There’s been a lot of coverage over the last 48 hours of more and more Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser availability. The latest wave of interest seems to arise from Drunk 3pO over on YouTube:
Now, I like Drunk 3pO, even if I flubbed his name in an article weeks ago. He and I have corresponded directly once, and indirectly on multiple occasions (although he may be unaware of the indirect communications). He has real inside sources and amazing connections like having spent time with Gina Carano. That said, I don’t think that the Galactic Starcruiser has a 50% drop in bookings. Let me explain.
There are two narratives competing around the Starcruiser hotel, both of which are false. On one side, there are some people trying to pretend that everything is still smooth sailing for Disney and the hotel. While the people pushing this idea will usually admit there are problems with the hotel, they often try to act as if this is all normal ironing out of little wrinkles. You can see that dwindling narrative in comments from a disgruntled penguin over on the WDW Magic forums:
“Almost all the negativity is from people who *didn’t* put a down payment on a cruise nor paid in full.”
— MisterPenguin
This idea that the negative response to the hotel is coming from a minority of people, or a demographic that somehow doesn’t matter, just fails to jive with reality. The Walt Disney Company didn’t pull a video featuring a celebrity actor because a very small number of people had a negative response. That sort of action suggests they saw something significant… otherwise, why would you induce the Streisand Effect? Clearly, Disney executives knew this would feed a long cycle of stories about the hotel failing, and they perceived that outcome to be better than leaving the video up.
The other false narrative is that the Starcruiser is dropping huge numbers of reservations. While it might appear that way from all the new availabilities, and while Disney certainly has a problem, I don’t believe that it is so bad that they are threatened by half-full hotel experiences. At least not yet. If that were the case, there would be two responses from Disney Parks that we could expect to see; these are two options that we may still see in the future. First, Disney could begin to offer extra perks for staying at the hotel. They’re unlikely to drop the price at this point because that would penalize early reservations, thus creating a new headache. Instead, they can just offer nice new extras to everyone staying in the hotel for the first six months. They haven’t done that yet. The other thing Disney would likely do is offer stays at the hotel through charities, promotional games, etc. There’s nothing better than spinning open hotel rooms into Disney having a big heart or giving away prizes to huge Star Wars fans.
Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Suffers Another Massive Wave of Cancelationshttps://t.co/rSxpIJbpEh
— WDW News Today (@WDWNT) January 4, 2022
That we don’t see either of those options says to me that we’re currently in the middle. Yes, Disney has a problem with people dropping their reservations. Yes, it’s a big problem. No, they’re not dropping to 50% capacity yet either. The bigger worry for Disney has always been what they plan to do in August, September, and October. I still think they can get the thing fully booked for the first six months; it’s after that when things get dicey. Disney wants to be able to get to next January before they have a two-month refurb (allegedly); if they can’t get the hotel booked for all the days after Summer 2022, that’s when they have hit rock bottom with this thing. Until then, they’re going to find ways to get it maxed out.
Part of what has made That Park Place so successful out of the gate is that we try really hard to just tell the truth here. There are probably a lot of readers who would like to hear doomsday prophecies for the hotel. But they’ll be gone once I write that and it turns out to be false. Readers would have loved for me to say that Kathleen Kennedy wasn’t being rehired, yet an article in which I reported she was almost certainly being re-hired is one of our top articles of all time. It wasn’t a big boon for readership when I posted it in September, but it later turned out to be another “WDW Pro was on it” moment later on. In the same way, I don’t enjoy going against a narrative that many readers want to hear right now; I don’t like disagreeing with major YouTube personalities who send readers our way. But in the end, it is worth it and helps everyone.
I believe Disney is filling reservations with employees for the first two months.
Disney needs positive word of mouth. By placing motivated employees, the experience can be exceptional positive. The cost to Disney would be two to three rooms.
As a member of the 501st, I would expect that this hotel would be a hot topic on their forums. Instead, it’s silence. People recognise this hotel is Star Wars in name only, as is much of Disney’s offerings.
LOL problem is that if I am a “motivated Disney employee” I would probably lose all my motivation after staying in that trash can for a few days.